Hard Target (1993)

August 20, 1993

Hunting to the Death When the Prey Is Human

By JANET MASLIN

Published: August 20, 1993

Swishing, whooshing, lovingly photographed weaponry. Nasty gurgles from the wounded. The clonking sound of a head hitting wrought iron. A bullet in the eye. These are the cornerstones of "Hard Target," one of this summer's few super-bloodthirsty action films, and the one that actually stood a chance of rising above its genre.

"Hard Target" was an opportunity for both John Woo, the Hong Kong-born action-film director with an ardent cult following, and Jean-Claude Van Damme, the self-appointed Muscles From Brussels, to reach a mainstream audience. "Hard Target" had a hard time getting past the Motion Picture Association of America's rating board without an NC-17 rating. But even in this somewhat adulterated form, Mr. Woo's film remains overwhelmingly violent and not always stylish enough to give its excesses the appearance of wit. Not even when its star bites the tail off a rattlesnake and then slugs the snake for good measure.

Mr. Woo's obvious gusto and his taste for myth making are readily apparent. But so is his fondness for the slow, lingering death scene coupled with sickening sound effects. Presenting Mr. Van Damme as reverentially as Sergio Leone did the young Clint Eastwood, Mr. Woo displays a real aptitude for malignant mischief, which is this story's stock in trade.

Derived from the 1932 film "The Most Dangerous Game," from a story by Richard Connell, "Hard Target" tells of wealthy thrill-seekers who pay large sums of money to stalk human prey. Right after it opens vividly with one such hunt-to-the-death, the film presents a perfect B-movie conversation. "It's like a drug, isn't it -- to bring a man down?" observes the entrepreneur who arranges this blood sport. "Was it worth it?" he asks his client. "Every nickel," the client solemnly replies.

The screenplay by Chuck Pfarrer (who appears in this sequence as the ill-fated victim) concentrates most of its creativity on the characters' names, which include Pik Van Cleaf (Arnold Vosloo), Emil Fouchon (Lance Henriksen) and Chance Boudreaux (Mr. Van Damme). The film does have one first-rate rejoinder, when Mr. Henriksen's rich, jaded entrepreneur asks Chance why he insists on spoiling all the fun. "Poor people get bored, too," Chance replies.

Speaking of bored, Mr. Van Damme has still not broken the habit of his own blank-faced posturing, although Mr. Woo films him in the most aggrandizing style imaginable. From the first tight close-up of the star's brooding eyes to the loving images of his feet kicking various faces, "Hard Target" does what it can to present Mr. Van Damme in a bold new light. Curiously, the film's neo-Peckinpah taste for slow motion gives Mr. Van Damme's stunts a balletic quality that diminishes their spontaneity. It's necessary for Mr. Woo to place his star standing on the seat of a moving motorcycle, for instance, and send him catapulting over the hood of an oncoming van to create the requisite high excitement.

Mr. Van Damme's Chance (who is said to have been "raised in the bayous," in this latest on-screen effort to explain his accent) is supposed to be a derelict, which allows Mr. Woo the opportunity for occasional flashes of social commentary. The film's glimpses of the homeless are sharp and unexpectedly substantial, which makes its frivolous ugliness that much more unfortunate. The plot involves Chance's being recruited by long-haired, wide-eyed Natasha Binder (Yancy Butler) to find her father, who is of course well past finding.

"Hard Target," which is set in New Orleans, also includes a warehouse full of Mardi Gras floats and Wilford Brimley, who rides a horse and tries out a conspicuous Louisiana accent. Clearly, Mr. Woo's sense of humor is as perverse as his other talents.

Hard Target
Directed by John Woo; screenplay by Chuck Pfarrer; director of photography, Russell Carpenter; edited by Bob Murawski; music by Graeme Revell; production designer, Phil Dagort; produced by James Jacks, Sean Daniel, Mr. Pfarrer and Terence Chang; released by Universal Pictures. Running time: 92 minutes. This film is rated R.